| | Event type
Shot Put, Men
| Date | 31 August 1960 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Stadio Olimpico, Roma |
| Participants | 24 from 16 countries |
Within the past year, three Americans had set world records – two-time defending champion Parry O’Brien, 1956 silver medalist Bill Nieder, and Dallas Long. Nieder had the most recent one, with 20.06 (65-9¾) set in mid-August after the Olympic Trials. In Roma they were the class of the field as all surpassed 19 metres and nobody else got beyond 18. O’Brien led after rounds one and two, getting to 19.11 (62-8½) in the second round. He continued to lead until round five, when Nieder popped his big one, 19.68 (64-6¾), which would win the gold medal. Long was in third all along but improved in the final round to 19.01 (62-4½).
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Qualifying | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 435 | Bill Nieder |  USA | 17.14 (7) | 19.68 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 436 | Parry O'Brien | USA | 17.29 (4) | 19.11 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 434 | Dallas Long | USA | 17.65 (=1) | 19.01 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 583 | Viktor Lipsnis |  URS | 17.65 (=1) | 17.90 (4) | |||
| 5 | 654 | Mike Lindsay |  GBR | 17.28 (5) | 17.80 (5) | |||
| 6 | 539 | Alfred Sosgórnik |  POL | 17.06 (10) | 17.57 (6) | |||
| 7 | 301 | Dieter Urbach |  GER | 17.09 (8) | 17.47 (7) | |||
| 8 | 653 | Martyn Lucking | GBR | 17.20 (6) | 17.43 (8) | |||
| 9 | 158 | Jiří Skobla |  TCH | 17.32 (3) | 17.39 (9) | |||
| 10 | 157 | Jaroslav Plíhal | TCH | 16.81 (=14) | 17.36 (10) | |||
| 11 | 87 | Les Mills |  NZL | 16.93 (11) | 17.06 (11) | |||
| 12 | 302 | Hermann Lingnau | GER | 16.87 (12) | 16.98 (12) | |||
| 13 | 615 | Silvano Meconi |  ITA | 17.08 (9) | 16.73 (13) | |||
| 14 | 206 | Zsigmond Nagy |  HUN | 16.84 (13) | 16.67 (14) | |||
| 15 | 19 | Warwick Selvey |  AUS | 16.81 (=14) | 16.18 (15) | |||
| 16 r1/2 | 699 | Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski | POL | 16.71 (16) | – | |||
| 17 r1/2 | 652 | Arthur Rowe | GBR | 16.68 (17) | – | |||
| 18 r1/2 | 125 | Haider Khan |  PAK | 13.53 (24) | – | |||
| 19 r1/2 | 338 | Georgios Tsakanikas |  GRE | 16.44 (18) | – | |||
| 20 r1/2 | 355 | Erik Uddebom |  SWE | 16.31 (19) | – | |||
| 21 r1/2 | 303 | Fritz Kühl | GER | 15.71 (20) | – | |||
| 22 r1/2 | 674 | Gideon Ariel |  ISR | 14.65 (21) | – | |||
| 23 r1/2 | 261 | Salem El-Jisr |  LBN | 13.82 (22) | – | |||
| 24 r1/2 | 29 | Nayef Hameed |  IRQ | 13.65 (23) | – | |||
| 229 | Bruno Graf |  SUI | – ( | – | ||||
| 166 | Todor Artarski |  BUL | – ( | – | ||||
| 205 | Vilmos Varjú | HUN | – ( | – | ||||
| 670 | Nuri Turan |  TUR | – ( | – |
Qualifying Round (31 August 1960 — 9:00)
All those reaching 16.75 metres advanced to the final.
| Pos | Ord | Athlete | NOC | Distance | R1 | R2 | R3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 7 | Dallas Long | USA | 17.65 | 17.65 | - | - | |||
| =1 | 5 | Viktor Lipsnis | URS | 17.65 | 17.65 | - | - | |||
| 3 | 14 | Jiří Skobla | TCH | 17.32 | 17.32 | - | - | |||
| 4 | 25 | Parry O'Brien | USA | 17.29 | 17.29 | - | - | |||
| 5 | 1 | Mike Lindsay | GBR | 17.28 | 17.28 | - | - | |||
| 6 | 28 | Martyn Lucking | GBR | 17.20 | 17.20 | - | - | |||
| 7 | 17 | Bill Nieder | USA | 17.14 | 17.14 | - | - | |||
| 8 | 24 | Dieter Urbach | GER | 17.09 | 16.55 | 17.09 | - | |||
| 9 | 8 | Silvano Meconi | ITA | 17.08 | 17.08 | - | - | |||
| 10 | 27 | Alfred Sosgórnik | POL | 17.06 | 17.06 | - | - | |||
| 11 | 4 | Les Mills | NZL | 16.93 | × | 16.93 | - | |||
| 12 | 15 | Hermann Lingnau | GER | 16.87 | 16.21 | 16.87 | - | |||
| 13 | 12 | Zsigmond Nagy | HUN | 16.84 | 16.84 | - | - | |||
| =14 | 19 | Jaroslav Plíhal | TCH | 16.81 | 16.81 | - | - | |||
| =14 | 11 | Warwick Selvey | AUS | 16.81 | 16.81 | - | - | |||
| 16 | 16 | Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski | POL | 16.71 | × | × | 16.71 | |||
| 17 | 13 | Arthur Rowe | GBR | 16.68 | 16.19 | 16.42 | 16.68 | |||
| 18 | 21 | Georgios Tsakanikas | GRE | 16.44 | 16.44 | 16.22 | 16.38 | |||
| 19 | 22 | Erik Uddebom | SWE | 16.31 | 16.31 | 16.09 | 16.27 | |||
| 20 | 20 | Fritz Kühl | GER | 15.71 | 15.21 | 15.71 | 15.69 | |||
| 21 | 10 | Gideon Ariel | ISR | 14.65 | 14.56 | 14.65 | 14.57 | |||
| 22 | 2 | Salem El-Jisr | LBN | 13.82 | 13.34 | 13.82 | 13.50 | |||
| 23 | 26 | Nayef Hameed | IRQ | 13.65 | 13.52 | 12.61 | 13.65 | |||
| 24 | 18 | Haider Khan | PAK | 13.53 | 13.53 | 13.47 | 13.26 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Bruno Graf | SUI | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 3 | Todor Artarski | BUL | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 23 | Vilmos Varjú | HUN | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 6 | Nuri Turan | TUR | – | – | – | – |
Final Round (31 August 1960 — 16:50)
| Pos | Ord | Athlete | NOC | Distance | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Bill Nieder | USA | 19.68 | 18.67 | 18.77 | × | 18.67 | 19.68 | × | |||
| 2 | 13 | Parry O'Brien | USA | 19.11 | 18.77 | 19.11 | × | 18.64 | 17.41 | 18.39 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Dallas Long | USA | 19.01 | 16.80 | 18.88 | 18.66 | 18.25 | × | 19.01 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Viktor Lipsnis | URS | 17.90 | 17.28 | 17.90 | 17.51 | × | × | 17.83 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Mike Lindsay | GBR | 17.80 | 17.63 | 17.61 | 17.80 | 17.09 | 17.39 | 17.43 | |||
| 6 | 14 | Alfred Sosgórnik | POL | 17.57 | 17.57 | 17.40 | × | × | 17.52 | 17.39 | |||
| 7 | 12 | Dieter Urbach | GER | 17.47 | 17.34 | 17.05 | 17.47 | – | – | – | |||
| 8 | 15 | Martyn Lucking | GBR | 17.43 | 17.21 | 16.71 | 17.43 | – | – | – | |||
| 9 | 8 | Jiří Skobla | TCH | 17.39 | 17.31 | 17.39 | × | – | – | – | |||
| 10 | 11 | Jaroslav Plíhal | TCH | 17.36 | 17.35 | 17.36 | 17.27 | – | – | – | |||
| 11 | 2 | Les Mills | NZL | 17.06 | 16.86 | 16.09 | 17.06 | – | – | – | |||
| 12 | 9 | Hermann Lingnau | GER | 16.98 | 16.65 | 16.98 | 16.66 | – | – | – | |||
| 13 | 5 | Silvano Meconi | ITA | 16.73 | × | 16.73 | × | – | – | – | |||
| 14 | 7 | Zsigmond Nagy | HUN | 16.67 | × | 16.67 | × | – | – | – | |||
| 15 | 6 | Warwick Selvey | AUS | 16.18 | 16.18 | 15.93 | 15.76 | – | – | – |